


A Walk In The Shadows

by SerStolas



Series: Post Rogue One Stories [8]
Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: Choices, F/M, Morality, Rogue One Anniversary, light and dark, light and dark side
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-12
Updated: 2017-12-12
Packaged: 2019-02-14 01:40:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12997065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SerStolas/pseuds/SerStolas
Summary: ABY 3 - Jyn Erso finds herself on a mission on Nar Shaddaa, and has a brush with something she did not expect.Rogue One Anniversary Week, Day Three: Favorite Planet | Writing Prompt Light and Dark





	A Walk In The Shadows

**Author's Note:**

> Star Wars belongs to Disney/Lucas Arts
> 
> Thank you to skitzofreak for pointing out my issue with perchant/perchance!

3 ABY

Jyn slipped quietly through alleys of this particular sector of Nar Shaddaa. Even with the presence of the Empire, Nar Shaddaa could not be fully brought to heel. The Empire had tried, and failed, multiple times. With the variety of people, with both legitimate business and less than legitimate business to conduct, Nar Shaddaa had been the perfect place to meet without much scrutiny.

At least here she could feel her fingers, she thought as she slipped into a rundown bar and scanned the room. She silently checked that her blaster and truncheon were in easy reach and settled into one of the booths, ordering what passed for ale in this particular bar. She sniffed the drink that came and determined it wasn't poisoned before carefully taking a sip, her eyes continuously scanning the room. She'd chosen a booth where her back was to the wall and she could watch every exit and entrance to the place.

Finally a stocky Zabrak ambled over with a tumbler of what appeared to be bad whiskey and slid into the booth across from Jyn.

"Kestrel, it's been a long time," the Zabrak said in a low, easy tone. The Zabrak was using one of Jyn's aliases, the one she'd expected for Nar Shaddaa. "Been too long since we were able to enjoy a drink together."

"It has been," Jyn replied. She regarded her contact with steady green eyes and sipped her ale. "Too long since we could just relax, eh Sorca?"

The Zabrak's lip quirked into a smile and she nodded. "Well we might as well enjoy a drink tonight then, catch up a bit before I head off to my next destination."

Jyn knew the woman across from her was a bounty hunter, or had been at one point. She also knew that the Zabrak worked for the Rebellion now, in a few different capacities. If what little rumors Jyn had heard were true, Sorca, real name unknown to Jyn, had a perchant for explosives.

"Been busy, looking for new...opportunities," Jyn replied smoothly, tapping her fingers lightly on her thigh under the table. 

Sorca nodded, leaning forward idly, one hand resting on the table, the other under the table, presumably on her lap. "There certainly have been many opportunities of late for me," she replied idly. 

They fell into conversation, talking about past encounters and future plants completely cut from cloth and Jyn and Sorca both knew it. During the conversation, Jyn felt a slight tap on her knee under the table, and the hand on her thigh slid down to her knee, taking the small data chip from Sorca's fingers. Jyn slid it into a pocket on her thigh and shut the pocket, nodding.

She was watching Sorca's face as she did so, and so noticed the slight narrowing of the other woman's eyes as she watched the far door. Jyn's gaze followed, and beyond the entrance they could both see the familiar shine of white armor.

Sorca stumbled to her feet, weaving a little, and while Jyn sensed intrinsically that the other woman was perfectly sober, Sorca appeared drunk to everyone else.

"Kriff, Sorca, too much again? Just like last time," Jyn said aloud as she slipped to her feet and pretended to help the staggering woman balance herself. "Come on, I'll get you home."

Jyn appeared to guide Sorca passed the bouncers at the back door and into another alley. Pulling up hoods, the two women continued the appearance of just one scoundrel helping another home for a few blocks.

Jyn couldn't sense the bulk of troopers following them anymore, but someone was still on their tail. Some blocks away from the bar, Sorca took a risk and pulled Jyn into an apartment building, leading her through a dizzying array of halls and dropping the drunken act, her voice low as they moved.

"There's a safehouse in another sector we can camp out in for a few hours or even a day or two if needbe," she advised Jyn. "I'm Nar Shaddaa frequently so I know most of the safe houses the Alliance has on the planet."

"How do you stand this place?" Jyn asked softly as they moved passed a mound of debris and trash that Jyn wasn't entirely certain wasn't alive.

Sorca gave a shrug. "You get immune to certain things after awhile. Things aren't all Light and Dark side the way the Jedi like to think they are...a lot of us live in shades of gray, but that doesn't mean we are cruel out of hand."

Jyn's sixth sense (Chirrut swore she had some minor Force sense) told her that 1) she could trust Sorca and 2) the woman was telling the truth. It also told her 3) that someone was still tracking them.

They hurried on, catching a skycab at last to another district, then Sorca continued to lead her swiftly through alleys and streets.

Jyn wondered how anyone could still be following them.

Their luck ran out on a narrow street where dealers and down on their luck individuals slouched or slunk about, avoiding each other unless necessary. A figure stepped into their path, almost as if conjured from the shadowed streets, dressed in gray and black, lifting a face to reveal a scarred woman with a cruel smile. When she revealed a knife, the street suddenly emptied itself, no one wanting to get involved in this confrontation.

"You will surrender," the black clad woman said imperiously, her gaze full of distain for the two in front of her.

"We won't," Jyn said with a snort.

Sorca jerked and shook her head, seeming to come out of a trance for a moment, her eyes sliding curiously to Jyn. 

"You will," the woman sneered again.

"You're brain must be full of ronto dung to make this display on a public street," Jyn replied. She grabbed Sorca's hand and pulled the other woman back, until they were dashing down another alley. They could hear the bootsteps beside them, and in a rush, one went down one alley, and one down another, until they were separated. Jyn ran through the maze of streets, until she couldn't sense the woman and paused for a breath, hoping Sorca was alright.

Then the black clad woman was before her again, her fingers crackling with energy.

"You will surrender," the woman snarled.

Jyn reacted by pulling her blaster and firing.

She should have hit the woman square in the chest, but instead she heard a grunt, and a thud as the blast hissed against armor she hadn't realized Sorca was wearing. 

Jyn frowned, still holding blaster out as she regarded the now unconscious woman that Sorca had quite literally dropped on. She crossed the distance and held the blaster to the woman's head.

"Is that really necessary?" Sorca asked in asked in a serious tone as she sat on the woman, pining the unconscious woman to the ground.

"She was going to try and kill me," Jyn replied from between clenched teeth. "She's Sith for all we know, definitely Empire."

"She also can't be more than 15 or 16," Sorca replied as she flipped the woman's hood back and examined her with a clinical gaze. "Still a child to some."

"I wasn't a child at 15," Jyn replied. 

Sorca regarded her with a dispassionate gaze. "I'm not saying we let her go, Jyn. I'm saying we keep her unconscious and let the Rebellion quiestion, though not torture, her. We don't really need to kill her."

Jyn felt an anger welling up in her mind, a bitterness tied to that childhood she'd never had, and Sorca trying to defend this young woman now.

" _Anger, hatred, leads to the dark side,"_ " she heard Chirrut and Luke's voices playing in her head.

She thought about how Cassian would feel. How he felt every life he'd ever taken and the blood on his hands.

If she killed someone she didn't have to, how would he feel? He would still slide into bed with her as he always did, but would he look at her the same way? They'd already spilled so much blood.

"Gag her and blindfold her," Jyn ordered Sorca.

The Zabrak considered her for a long moment then nodded. "I can do that." She pulled a scarf off her kneck and blindfolded the unconscious woman then improvised a gag. With a strength that belied her height, she wasn't much taller than Jyn, she shifted the woman's body so she could support it. "Lets get to the safe house."

Four days later, back on base, no longer in Sorca's company, Jyn found herself reliving those moments. We aren't cruel out of hand, Sorca had said.

That situation had very much been one of gray. She could have killed the now prisoner, but Jyn hadn't. Greater good meant that the woman might be able to provide the Rebellion with information. It meant Jyn's personal anger had to be pushed aside.

When Cassian held her that night, she realized very much that they lived their lives in gray, but certain actions could very well be just light, or dark, and a single moment or decision could make all the difference in the world.

It was a lesson Jyn knew she would not forget soon.

**Author's Note:**

> Of favorite planets: Nar Shaddaa is not a beautiful or safe planet. It's a smuggler's moon, with all the good and bad that implies. There are good people, evil people, and somewhere inbetween people that came from Nar Shaddaa. I find the planet fascinating because of its history and place in the Star Wars universe.
> 
> This was a story about Jyn struggling with the morality of a decision. While no one would have questioned the kill, problem, there's a question of it it was really necessary.
> 
> And if you're paying attention, a few of you might recognize the Zabrak from the story as one from another fic I wrote, though under an assumed name :)


End file.
